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Meet Your Hosts: KeyStone

Contemporary A Cappella – all the camaraderie of a live music group combined with the artistry of all-vocal performance and the energy of contemporary music. It’s where the addiction to close harmony singing meets the modern music so many of us grew up with. That addiction is what brought KeyStone A Cappella together and how we became your hosts for VoCALnation.

As undergraduates, some of us sang together in the a cappella groups at Penn State University. Others sang in groups at Temple University and Oberlin. It was actually post-college that the six of us got together. We all found our way to The A Cappella Project – Philadelphia, a non-profit charitable organization that sponsors multiple co-ed and all-female a cappella groups singing seasonally throughout the year; the summer season puts adult singers together with undergrads on break to put on a benefit concert every August. We first sang together as a pick-up group in the summer of 2009, singing “I’ll Be There” as a tribute to Michael Jackson. It was a one-and-done performance, but in the back of several minds was a desire to do more.

Fast forward to 2011 – the open casting call for “The Sing-Off” brought us together in a whirlwind of arranging, rehearsing, and filming. It was the catalyst we needed to get back together and get off the ground. After the video, we decided to take a semi-professional approach to the group, and we wanted to network with other post-collegiate groups. Joining the Contemporary A Cappella League was a decision that brought with it a number of unexpected benefits. It was proof positive that there is life after undergrad for a cappella singers. Last year’s VoCALnation in Washington, D.C., was an incredible experience that really broadened our perspective of what post-collegiate a cappella could be. When CASA’s core events team asked us if we were potentially interested in hosting, our answer was obvious and unanimous. We want to see the small-but-enthusiastic post-collegiate scene in Philadelphia grow, and hosting VCN is an awesome way to give Philly the jump start it needs.

So, what can you expect from VoCALnation 2013 in Philadelphia?

• A tight, well-executed festival from beginning to end.
• A venue that is a historical landmark, with amazing architecture and atmosphere.
• A festival in the middle of Center City, in walking distance of the “Rocky” steps and
several fantastic museums.
• Walk or run along the iconic and scenic Boathouse Row.
• Philly soft pretzels. Real ones.
• Words like Schuylkill, Conshohocken, and Manayunk (go ahead, try to pronounce them).
• The answer to the age-old question. “Whose cheesesteak is better: Pat’s or Geno’s?”
(hint: it’s a trick question!)
• A CAL Showcase concert full of some of the best post-collegiate groups in the country.

Join us in Philadelphia in July for VoCALnation 2013. (Note: Michael Vick will NOT be in attendance.)